how do they restore our favorite movies

[anger is pointless]

ive always been curious about how they do it how do they restore our disney movies from loooking thier age to looking beautiful

[Wonderlicious]

Have you got the Bambi DVD (or the Sleeping Beauty or Snow White sets for that matter)? If so, watch the "restoration" featurette on Disc 2. That's how they restore the older film reel sourced films. For the modern films that are digital (Beauty and the Beast and onwards), they do a direct digital transfer, with the computer sourced movie files being transfered to disc. I should add that not all films made on the digital CAPS system had a direct digital transfer, however. The Rescuers Down Under, Hercules, The Hunchback of Notre Dame as well as Mulan and Pocahontas' original releases were sourced from print copies for various reasons, such as cost cutting (they just used the pre-digital laserdisc transfers for some early Disney releases).

[Anders M Olsson]

Well, I guess it's a matter of taste whether you think that the restored versions look beautiful or not. Sometimes they overdo it. An old film shouldn't be improved on beyond what it originally looked like.

One example of restoration gone awry is the latest region 2 release of Pinocchio. It looks completely lifeless. I much prefer the older version, even though it's less sharp.

[musicradio77]

I have both the "Snow White" and "Bambi" DVD's. Both featured a short film on restoring a Disney classic. IMO, the "Cinderella" DVD does not have a short film on restoring a 1950 animated classic.

[Wonderlicious]

IMO, the "Cinderella" DVD does not have a short film on restoring a 1950 animated classic.

How can a blatant fact be an opinion?

[Disneykid]

IMO, the "Cinderella" DVD does not have a short film on restoring a 1950 animated classic.

How can a blatant fact be an opinion?

I'm wondering that, myself, though I also wonder why Cinderella didn't have a restoration featurette...

Basically, the restoration team scans an original print into a computer. Once the entire film in stored in there, they go through each frame that was scanned and digitally remove dirt, hair, grain, etc. and pump up the color and sharpness. As reference, they go into the Disney vaults and pull out the original animation cels. This will determine whether or not they're on the right track. When they're finished, what you see is basically as if you were looking at the original animation cels and backgrounds with no camera lens or film in the way. There's been much debate about whether or not this is proper. In my opinion, I love the clean look of these restored films. Complaining that a film like Cinderella looks too clean and needs more grain is like complaining that an antique table doesn't look antique enough and needs more scratches. I do understand, though, that due to nostalgia, many people prefer the older transfers since that's the way they've known the film all their lives.

[Luke]

How can a blatant fact be an opinion?

Or how can a blatant echo be a post?

[Escapay]

How can a blatant fact be an opinion?

Or how can a blatant echo be a post?

The same way a blatant raising of post count is hidden under a lot of topics that no one reads because it's pretty much making a few statements that don't really call for much discussion because the statements are pretty boring and can't really start conversation?

In musicradio77's defense, though...I think he meant IIRC (If I remember correctly), not IMO. Though of course, the entire post was just a retread of what the past 5 posters had said already, so yeah, it was a blatant echo under the guise of a post.

Anyways, Disneykid pretty much explained it. One of the best restoration teams out there is Lowry, who did restorations fo several Disney films. I remember back when Alice in Wonderland was first released on 2-disc DVD and everyone was clamoring over the mere fact that Lowry did a restoration for the Song of the South segment (in the "One Hour in Wonderland" feature), and it led to speculation that if enough people called in and said "When is THAT movie coming to DVD?", that Lowry might have done an entire restoration and lead to SOTS on DVD. Perhaps they already did a complete restoration, and now it's just sitting waiting to be printed for next year's 60th Anniversary.

WB has their own restoration team, can't remember if they're called Ultra-Resolution or if that's what the process is called. Their Gone With The Wind 4-disc edition and Wizard of Oz 2-and-3-disc edition has featurettes about it as well.

Escapay

[Anders M Olsson]

In my opinion, I love the clean look of these restored films. Complaining that a film like Cinderella looks too clean and needs more grain is like complaining that an antique table doesn't look antique enough and needs more scratches. I do understand, though, that due to nostalgia, many people prefer the older transfers since that's the way they've known the film all their lives.

About that antique table - its not a bad analogy! If you were to polish away ALL its scratches, you're very likely to render a valuable antique quite worthless.

I recommend a good read of Robert Harris' columns at The Digital Bits.
http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articles/ ... index.html
Now, there's a guy who knows what restoration is all about!

[deathie mouse]

btw they're scanning negatives or fine grain intermediates, not original prints. Unless those better elements are totally lost or destroyed.